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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Purina Beneful has been in the news recently due to a class action suit clamining it is toxic and kills dogs. Pretty alarming right?

Well, not to me.

As a conscientious consumer I realize propylene glycol in in Beneful. I also realize it is in no way a dangerous amount of what is a pretty benign chemical. One I knowingly eat myself in products like Betty Crocker cake mix and Blue Bunny ice cream.

Contrary to some reports, propylene glycol is not in standard poisonous types of anti-freeze, that is ethylene glycol. If that was in my dogs' food I would in fact be very alarmed. Forms of anti-freeze that substitute propylene glycol for ethylene glycol are referred to as "non-toxic anti-freeze" and for good reason.

The reason my household, of both species, eat food containing propylene glycol is because I deem the government rating of food grade propylene glycol as "GRAS" or "generally regarded as safe" to be trustworthy and correct in relation to this food grade chemical.

I feel that the adverse effects people have noted in their dogs some variable time after feeding them Beneful were caused by other factors. Beneful is a very widely feed diet and coincidental sickening, including poisoning from other sources, could easily occur on the scale being reported without the diet being at fault.

New data could change my assessment, but then that is always the case. And as things stand I am confident that the ingredients of the Beneful diet are not toxic in type or amount unless there has been some huge adulteration and fraud, which I deem to be no more likely for Beneful than for any other brand. In fact I feel Beneful's ingredients are better than most comparable products especially in relation to their relatively high protein levels (for a conventional kibble).

You may, of course, disagree--but to suggest my decision to keep feeding Beneful is out of ignorance or lack of care for my dogs would be utterly, utterly incorrect. So I want to put my reasoning for continued confidence in this brand and product out there. And to clearly state that I have no relevant conflict of interest whatsoever and am simply stating my personal assessment and opinion on the matter.